Heliomotor



' 2 Sheets-Sheelj L. W. ALLNGHAM.

HELIOMOTOR.

(No Model.)

Patented Feb. 13,1894. y

, 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

M. m Gm. NT ,I0 LM. ,Lw vAH `.E W L Nol 514,669. Patented Feb. 13, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT i Fries.

LUTHER W. ALLINGHAM, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIEORNIA.

HE'LIOMT'OR..V l f i SPECIFICATION forming part of Lettersilatent No.1514,6`69, dated February 13, 1894.

Applioatlcniled June 8,1893.

To @ZZ 'wh-0m it may concern:

Beit known that I, LUTHER NV. ALLING= HAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, LosAngeles county, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Heliomotors; and I hereby declare the followv `ing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to the class of apparatus by which the rays of the sun may be concentrated and steadily directed to one spot moving in an arc of a circle round a fixedn 'during the whole of the period of sunshine. v

The object of. my invention is to focus the snns rays and thus produce heat enough for many practical purposes, such for example, as heating water, fruit drying, steam generation, &c.

My invention consists essentially off a car i struction and combination of the parts of the apparatus hereinafter fully described and' specically pointed out in the claims. Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of myi'nventiem-Figure 1 isa perspective view of my heliomotor.; Fig. 2 is a perspective .view showing the connections at the back of one reilector.` Fig. 3 is a view showing the form of an adjustable'connection between' links and levers. Fig. 4 is a radial cross section through the baseof the heliomotor. Fig. 5 is a view of one section of reflectors. Y

The car consists of a suitable frame-work A, the parts of which are united together and suitably braced and supported.

`The car rotates around and is partly supported on a pivotal point a placed at or near the center of gravity.4

Under the ,car and placed so as to bear its weight is a circular plate a. which moves over 'stationary wheels 'w in the manner of an ordinary turn-table.

Upon the cars are suitable frames for supporting the redectors and' adjusting appli- Serial No. 476,965. No model.)

ances, and frame a2 for supporting any suitable surface or thing to be focused upon.

The car is'rotated round this pivotal point a by the yappliances to be now described. The-purpose of this rotation is to present the reiecting surface to the sun during the Whole day. The power is taken from a shaft or other means (not shown) by which a regular stroke canlie obtained.' .From this the stroke is communicatedl by a rigid link o to a lever O which works a pawl in a ratchet wheel H. This ratchety wheel is on the same shaft h as an -arm or crank h which communicates a which works a ratchet Wheel H. This ratchet wheel is onfth'e saine shaft as, a fusiform Y windlass Gwhich winds achainF. This chain passes round the circular plate a beneath the car and is fastened toi't at such a point as will give the chain power over the car .to produce motion round the pivotal point a. The purpose of thefusiform windlass is to produce thev gradually increasing rate of motion necessary to keep pace with the rate of suns apparent motion from the horizon to the rneridian and to decrease the rate of motioncor- 'between the rigid links 0 and o', and the levers 0 and O are adjustable to .regulate the n rate of motion given to the fusitorm windlass.-

The sections of refiectors are made of a number of small reflectors b arranged in the section in such a manner that theag'gregate surface of small reliectors forms a broken concave surface. lThe degree of concavity of the i sections varies with the distance at which they are placed fromvthe focal point. Thus the farther away from the focal point, the less the concavity. The concavity varies inversely tolthe distance from the focal point. of the sections, and at or near the center, each section-of the outer tiers is hinged to thebracket c on the section bar b. This hinge Back permits motion round aline parallel to the horizontal axis, but prevents motion round its vertical axis,lexcept as later described. The` central sections, represented by B', swing upon pivotal'pcints b2 at veach extremity yroc which permit motion only about the horizontal axis. At or near the center of the back of each section of' reliector, a tilting lever pm' stroke bymeans lof a link o to a lever 0 and south cuts the guide rail.

. l cessive point on each side increases in disy Vtance from the' pivotal point. This guide rail-is firmly fixed to the foundation below so 1o( tendency of the whole tier of sections.

The section bar b will now be described: It consists of the barinclined at a suitable angle from the perpendicular, and bearing brackets c to which the sections B of reflectors are r 5 pivoted. The bar is axially pivoted at each end to its supports, so as to permit it and the corresponding tier of sections to be directed l inward toward the center. This motion is controlled by the levers d as will be shown.

zo The section bar is used-only for the outer rows olf/sections.

The means for adjusting the sections to focus their reections on the focal point will now be described. There are two necessary z 5 motions forthe accomplishment of this pur-l pose. These are, tirst, a motion round a line parallel to the horizontal axis of each section; and, second, a motion round a line parallel to the vertical axis of each of the outer sec- 3o tions, Which/is accomplished by turning the section bar b on its end pivots, and thus directing the surface otits reectors toward the center. Both these motions are originated by the motion of 'the car around its 3 5 pivotal point a acting on the eccentric double guide rail g. The center of the circle of which this double eccentric guide rail is an arc is in a line running north and south through the pivotal point a. It is at a suit- 4o able distance from the pivotal point so that the guide rail may be suitably eccentric to the pivotal point. Thus they nearest pointin the guide rail to the pivotal point, 'will be that point at which the line running north Each sucas to be immovable by moderate force. Be-

5o tween the parts of this rail,a wheel M moves which lies beneath the central portion of the car, and is carried by a sliding bar m to which the upright 'm is firmly attached. This bar slides out and in, parallel with the central portion of the car by which it is carried. Thus as the central portion of the car travels toward the point at which the line drawn through the pivotal point a and the center of the eccentric rails `intersects the ce said rails, the upright m approaches the pivotal point. Thus a motion is produced toward the pivotal point from morning till noon, and away from it from noon until night, by the receding of the upright rm.. 'This motion of the upright is communicated to the crank arm s by means of` a rigid link s. The crank arm s acts upon the rock-shaft S which bears other crank arms s2. Frorrfeach crank arm s2 rigid links as L are attached to thelinks Z which connect the tilting levers p of the sections. By this combination,l the motion from the upright fm, is communicated to the tilting levers p of the sections, and by them the sections receive `motion round lines parallel to their horizontal axes. Thus from morning until noon the sections are tilted backward to accommodate the rise of the sun, and for ward from noon until night. All these attachments of links and levers, dac., are adinstable to regulate the motion as desired. The second motion, namely, directing the retlectors to the center, is produced as follows: As the upright m is moved toward the center, motion is given to the double lever K by means of the rigid link 7c acting on the lever Q at right angles to the double lever K. Each arln of the double lever K is connected by rigid links la to the levers el of the section bars b of the opposite sides. ing until noon, the upright m moves toward the center a and this produces motion about the center of the double lever K, each arm thrusting the attached links outward. The levers d to which these links are attached are similarly acted upon, and the section bars b are thus turned on their pivotal ends and the reflections directed inward. This motion is reversed from noon until night. All attachments of the various links and levers are adjust-able to increase or decrease motion.

The various adjustable attachments can be conveniently made by a device which may be thus described.

Referring to Fig. 3, a piece like a clevis R tits loosely over a leverand is fastened to it by means of a bolt or set screw r'. On one or both sides of this, the bolt or set screw passes through the extremities of -a spring clip r' which fastens on a rigid link. Th us the clevis can be moved along lthe lever and properly adjusted. The rigid link passes through the spring clip r and can be fastened at anysuitable place.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secu re by Letters Patent, is

l. In a heliomotor, the combination of a car adapted to turn about a fixed pivotal point,a series of adjustable reflectors carried by the car, a fixed eccentric guide rail, and mechanism engaging said rail and operated by the movement of the car to adjust the reflectors to focus their rays upon a given point or focal surface, substantially as herein described.

2. In a heliomotor, the combination of a car having a fixed pivotalpoint about which it turns, a swinging reflector carried by the cai" and means for adjusting the reflector to focus its rays constantly upon one point, consisting of a fixed eccentric guide rail, and confnec tions therefrom to the reflector, substantially as herein described.

3. In a heliomotor, the combination of a car adapted to turn about a fixed pivotal point, a

Thus from morng IOO IIO

`Itially as herein-described.

4. In aheliomotor, the combination of a car adapted to turn about a viixedpivotal point, a series of adjustable reilectors carried thereby andV mounted so as to turn about fa line` parallel to their vertical axes,l a xed eccentric guide rail, and mechanism engaging said rail and operated by the movement of the car to turn said reflectors about said line, substantially as herein described. v l

5. In a heliomotor` the combination of a car ,adapted to turn about a fixed pivotal point,

a series of adjustable reiiectors carried therei by and mounted so as to turn about'lines parallel to both their horizontal and their vertical axes, a fixed eccentric guide rail and mechanism engaging said railV and operated by the 'movement of the car to turn said reilectors aboutrboth said lines, substantially as herein described.

6. In a heliomotor, the `combinationoi a car adapted to turn about a xedjpivotal point,v a. seri-es 'of .reflectors-carried thereby and mounted to turn about linesyparallelvto their', horizontal and'vertical axes,.the fixed eccentric guide rail g formedand locatedso that V its nearest point to the pivotal pointlies in'a north andsouth line through said lpivotal point and intersecting said rail and its extremitiesV gradually 4and Y evenly recede from Y' said point, and mechanism engaging said rail and operated by the movement of the carto turn saidv reflectors about thei lines parallel'to theirv horizontal and yvertical leinem substantially as herein described.

'7. In a heliomotonthe combination of a car adapted to turn about a'ixed pivotal point,` a series not reflectors carried therebyand mounted to turn 4about lines parallel to their f horizontal and .vertical axes, the fixed eccentric guide rail g formed and'lcatedl so that its nearest point to the pivotal pointlies in a north and south line Athrough said pivotal point and4 intersecting said rail, and its extremities gradually andtevenly recede from said point. and mechanism engaging said rail their horizontal axes, 6 5 backs of said refiectors,

and operated by the movement of the car to turn said retlectors about the-lines parallel to their horizontal and .vertical axes, consisting of fa wheel engaging said Tail, a sliding bar operated in and ont by said wheel and connections `from said bar to therede'ctors, substantially as herein described.

,8. In a heliomotor, the combinationof a car adapted connected reflectors carried by the car and pivoted so as to turn about lines parallel to tilting levers on the ad `instable links connecting said tilting levers,

to move about a fixed 4pivotal points.

the fixed eccentric guide rail, the wheel and slide bar operated thereby andthe rock shaft with cranks connected with said sliding bar and with the connecting links of the tilting levers ofthe redectorasubstantially as herein described.

9. lIn a heliomotor, the combination of a car adapted to move about a fixed pivotal point, inclined supports carried thereby and axially pivote'd at their ends, reflectors carried bythe inclined supports, the fixed eccentric guide rail and connections engaging said rail and operating on the inclined supports to turn them and adj ust their reflectors inwardly, Y substantially as herein described.

10.` In a heliomotor, the 'combination of a car adapted to move about a fixed pivotal point, said car having axially turnable inclined supports, reflectors carried by said supports and pivoted thereto wherebythey may turn about lines parallel to their horizontal axes, the fixed eccentric guide raihthe wheel engaging' said rail and the sliding bar of the Wheel, connections from said sliding bar to tilt the re- .ectors Vabout. the lines parallel to their horizontal axes and connections for turning their inclined supports to adjust said reiiectors inwardly about lines parallel to their vertical axes, substantially as herein described.

1l. In a heliomotor, the tiers of pivotally ymounted reflectors having rearwardly extend- V'ing tilting levers,`links connectingsaid levers .in each tier, and a Weighted extension ofvthe uppermost tilting lever to counterbalance the series, substantially as hereiirdescribed. 12. In a heliomotonthe combination of the car adapted to turn about" a,l fixed pivotal point and having the adjustable reilectors, the fusiform windlass and means fordriving it and a connection bet-Ween said windlass and the'car whereby the latter is driven at the proper gra uated speed, substantially as herein described. Y l

13. In a heliomotor having the car with re- -doctors, means for. operating said car and for edecting the movements and adjustments of its reflectors, said means including connected *levers and links, and the adjustable connections between'said' levers and links consisting of the sliding clevis on the one part, having the spring clip sliding on the other part,

and the set screws for holding them,substan tially as described. A

14. In aheliomotor,` a car adapted to turn about a fixed pivotal point, a tier of central,` retiectors carried by the caran'd adapted to turn about linesA parallel to their horizontal axes only and tiers of side redectors adapted `to turn about lines parallel to both their horizontal and vertical axes, substantially as here- 'i'n described.

-In witness whereotI have hereunto set my hand. LUTHER W. ALLINGHAM.

4Witnesses:

J. H. NICHOLS; LEWIS DECIUS. v

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